Born to Crime Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Biological Criminology

Subjects:

• Crime & Justice » Crime & Justice (general)
• Multicultural Studies » European Studies

Reviews:

• Gibson has done a superb job of describing the history of criminology....A very readable account of Cesare Lombroso and his influence on the field of biological criminology. Recommended. All levels.
  —Choice May 2003
• What sets this book apart is the manner which Gibson describes the historical context in which this school of criminology developed.
  —journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences Winter 2005
• Gibson's cool and informative appraisal of the origins of criminology and the adaptation of forensic science in the age of Mussolini is a significant contribution to the field.
  —The American Historical Review 2004
• Born to Crime makes a clear and compelling case for the intellectual and practical significance of the theory of the born criminal and its varied expressions in the culture and practice of criminal justice in modern Italy. However, as Givson's very useful book convinces us, a belief that physical features reveal underlying pathologies of character, which criminal anthropology shared with racists, eugenicists, and antisemites all over the industrialized world in the first half of the twentieth century, prepared the way for far more sinister consequences.
  —Journal of Modern History June 2004
• [A] most authoritative work on Italian physician Cesare Lombroso and the origins of positivist criminology...her book is a breath of fresh air...this book is an endlessly fascinating journey into the intricacies of early positivist criminology...anyone wishing to be informed about the Italian school of criminology is not likely to receive a more thorough education from any other single source anytime soon.
  —Human Nature Review 2003

• Endorsement From Nicole Hahn Rafter
  Northeastern University: Born to Crime provides a lucid guide to criminology and criminal justice in post-Unification and Fascist Italy. It is a lively, sophisticated book by a leading European historian.
• Endorsement From Dr. Steven C. Hughes
  Professor of History
  Loyola College, Maryland: Intriguing in its topic and enjoyable in its style, this book finally puts Lombroso back in the picture as a major influence in a wide variety of fields in Italy and elsewhere. Gibson helps dispel a lot of myth surrounding this very controversial but very important character, all the while building a sound basis for future scholarship.
• Endorsement From Richard Bach Jensen
  Professor, Northwestern State University: Mary Gibson's thoroughly researched, ground-breaking study of Lombroso and of the influence of Lombrosianism on Italy is full of fascinating insights and witty commentary. Gibson's nuanced analysis shows how Lombroso and his followers left a considerable, and often unacknowledged, impact on Italian policies and practices from the end of the 19th century to the 1930s. This is the best study of Lombroso in English, and one of the best in any language.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Criminal Man
• Female Offender
• Race and Crime
• "Scientific Police"
• Juvenille Delinquency
• Theory and Law after Lombroso
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index